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PEORIA, Ariz. 
Brian Giles, who is embroiled in a public dispute with a former girlfriend, reported to Padres camp yesterday and said his legal issues will not be a distraction to either him or the Padres this season.

“I certainly don't want my personal stuff to distract this team,” Giles said. “I won't let it distract it. We'll talk about this and let it play out. We're getting ready to meet a lot of new guys and get the season going, and that's what it's about.

“I won't let this be a distraction for this team.”

Cheri Olvera filed a palimony lawsuit against Giles early in the offseason, claiming he battered her, including while she was pregnant, causing a miscarriage. She is seeking more than $10 million.

This month, Giles countersued, saying it was Olvera who abused him. He seeks the return of a diamond engagement ring he said he gave her on Christmas Eve 2005 that he says is valued at $107,952.

Olvera's lawsuit revealed publicly that Giles entered into a plea agreement for a misdemeanor domestic violence charge involving Olvera at a Phoenix bar in 2006. Giles was required to complete anger-management counseling as part of the deal in exchange for the case being dropped. Giles said in a statement in December, “There was an incident in Phoenix which I regret.”

Late in the 2006 season, Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said he had looked into that incident.

The Padres picked up Giles' $9 million option in November, rather than pay him a $3 million buyout that would have put Giles into free agency.

“You hope as an employee that your employer gives you all that money because they know what kind of person you are,” said Giles, who has been the Padres' main right fielder since Towers traded for him late in the 2003 season. “I am comfortable with myself and who I am, and that's all that really matters.”

Giles said he is unfazed by the negative publicity relating to the lawsuit.

“My family and friends, they know the truth,” he said. “It's unfortunate it has to go this way, but, hey, we'll figure a way out to prove the truth, and that'll come out.”

He expressed concern over how the publicity could affect his two daughters, ages 8 and 6, who live in Poway.

“The biggest frustration of the whole thing is them going to school and hearing things,” he said. “I'm a man, I'm grown up, I can handle (adverse publicity), but these are two innocent girls that have to maybe hear things at school or in the public. They're pretty thick-skinned. They'll deal with it, they know who their dad is. That's really the only thing that's important with me.”

Giles said the lawsuits will not affect his preparations for baseball.

“I will say there have been settlement discussions,” he said, “but, to me, I want to prove myself, who I am, and right now we've got things that prove that (Olvera's lawsuit claim) isn't the case.”

By trading Giles during the season, the Padres could meet the $40 million payroll mandated by club owner John Moores. Towers has said the club is about $5 million above its projected budget. Dealing Giles in, say, June, could save the Padres about $5 million. It's unclear whether the club's pending sale to a group led by Jeff Moorad would allow the payroll to go up in 2009.

There might be obstacles to getting good value in return for Giles. For one, Giles' consent is needed for a trade to any of the other 29 clubs. A trade also would raise Giles' salary to $11 million, via an assignment bonus, lowering the player's value.

Giles, when asked if he had any potential trade destinations in mind, yesterday mentioned the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels.

He said the Angels would have a “huge” geographic advantage because he would like to stay near his daughters, but he also questioned whether any of those clubs would have a starting job for him. The Angels, for one, have a glut of outfielders.

“I think I can be an everyday player still,” said Giles, who also has suggested that an extension might be needed for him to OK a trade. “So that's going to play a lot into the decision. Are you going to play every day, or be a platoon guy, or come off the bench?”

Giles vetoed a trade to the Red Sox in August, largely, he said, because he doubted he would remain an everyday player but also because Red Sox GM Theo Epstein said he probably would trade Giles this past offseason. By staying with the Padres, Giles obtained full trade-veto powers and finished the season with a .305 batting average and a .398 on-base percentage over 147 games.

His production factored into the Padres' decision to pick up the $9 million option.

As the offseason unfolded, the free-agent market cratered for many players such as veteran right fielder Bobby Abreu, a player comparable to Giles who recently was signed by the Angels for $5 million plus incentives.

Giles, who turned 38 last month, said he is in much better shape than he was last February, when he was coming off microfracture surgery to his right knee. In 2008, he led the team in batting average, doubles (40), walks (87) and on-base percentage.